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Yahoo
13-06-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Data on sexual orientation and gender is critical to public health – without it, health crises continue unnoticed
As part of the Trump administration's efforts aimed at stopping diversity, equity and inclusion, the government has been restricting how it monitors public health. Along with cuts to federally funded research, the administration has targeted public health efforts to gather information about sexual orientation and gender identity. In the early days of the second Trump administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention took down data and documents that included sexual orientation and gender identity from its webpages. For example, data codebooks for the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System were replaced with versions that deleted gender identity variables. The Trump administration also ordered the CDC to delete gender identity from the National Violent Death Reporting System, the world's largest database for informing prevention of homicide and suicide deaths. For many people, sexual orientation and gender identity may seem private and personal. So why is personal information necessary for public health? Decades of research have shown that health problems affect some groups more than others. As someone who has studied differences in health outcomes for over 15 years, I know that one of the largest health disparities for LGBTQ+ people is suicide risk. Without data on sexual orientation and gender identity, public health cannot do the work to sound the alarm on and address issues that affect not just specific communities, but society as a whole. Health is determined by the interplay of several factors, including a person's genetics, environment and personal life. Of these types of health information, data on personal lives can be the most difficult to collect because researchers must rely on people to voluntarily share this information with them. But details about people's everyday lives are critical to understanding their health. Consider veteran status. Without information that identifies which Americans are military veterans, the U.S. would never have known that the rate of suicide deaths among veterans is several times higher than that of the general population. Identifying this problem encouraged efforts to reduce suicide among veterans and military service personnel. Studying the rates of different conditions occurring in different groups of people is a vital role of public health monitoring. First, rates can set off alarm bells. When people are counted, it becomes easier to pick up a problem that needs to be addressed. Second, rates can be a benchmark. Once the extent of a health problem is known, researchers can develop and test interventions. They can then determine if rates of that health problem decreased, stayed the same or increased after the intervention. My team reviewed available research on how sexual orientation and gender identity are related to differences in mortality. The results were grim. Of the 49 studies we analyzed, the vast majority documented greater rates of death from all causes for LGBTQ+ people compared with people who aren't LGBTQ+. Results were worse for suicide: Nearly all studies reported that suicide deaths were more frequent among LGBTQ+ people. A great deal of other research supports this finding. Without data on sexual orientation and gender identity, these issues are erased. Higher death rates among LGBTQ+ people affect everyone, not just people in the LGBTQ+ community. And when suicide is a major driver of these death rates, the costs increase. There are societal costs. Deaths from suicide result in lost productivity and medical services that cost the U.S. an estimated $484 billion per year. There are also human costs. Research suggests that for every suicide death, about 135 people are directly affected by the loss, experiencing grief, sadness and anger. President Donald Trump's targeting of research on sexual orientation and gender identity comes at a time when more Americans than ever – an estimated 24.4 million adults – identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender. That's more than the entire population of Florida. LGBTQ+ people live in every state in the country, where they work as teachers, executives, janitors, nurses, mechanics, artists and every other profession or role that help sustain American communities. LGBTQ+ people are someone's family members, and they are raising families of their own. LGBTQ+ people also pay taxes to the government, which are partly spent on monitoring the nation's health. Stopping data collection of sexual orientation and gender identity does not protect women, or anyone else, as the Trump administration claims. Rather, it serves to weaken American public health. I believe counting all Americans is the path to a stronger, healthier nation because public health can then do its duty of detecting when a community needs help. This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit, independent news organization bringing you facts and trustworthy analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. It was written by: John R. Blosnich, University of Southern California Read more: Anti-LGBTQ+ policies harm the health of not only LGBTQ+ people, but all Americans Trans youth are significantly more likely to attempt suicide when gender dysphoria is met with conversion therapy than with hormone treatment RFK Jr's shakeup of vaccine advisory committee raises worries about scientific integrity of health recommendations John R. Blosnich receives funding from the National Institutes of Health. He is affiliated with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), however all time and effort into writing this piece was done outside of his work with the VA. The opinions expressed are those of Dr. Blosnich and do not necessarily represent those of his institution, funders, or any affiliations.
Yahoo
04-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Which jobs were cut at CDC? Here's a list.
The layoffs at CDC this week hit global and environmental health as well as HIV prevention programs especially hard, according to an overview document obtained by POLITICO. The document, shared during an agency meeting Tuesday, paints a picture of a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that will be more narrowly focused on infectious disease, with a significantly less holistic view of public health. The job cuts include the elimination of about a fourth of the staff at the National Center for HIV, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and Tuberculosis Prevention and about a third of the workers at the CDC's Injury Center. 'When you see the elimination of the Office of Smoking and Health, when smoking is the leading preventable cause of chronic disease, you have to ask the question, 'What are they thinking?'' asked Dr. Richard Besser, CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and a former acting director of the agency. The cuts are part of a large-scale restructuring at the Department of Health and Human Services — with the goal of eliminating 10,000 employees, 2,400 from CDC. A spokesperson for HHS did not respond to a request asking whether changes to the staff reductions had been made since they were shared with staff Tuesday. ABC News reported that HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. plans to reinstate some workers who were mistakenly fired. Here are the cuts: — National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion was reduced by about a third, losing the Office on Smoking and Health, Oral Health, Population Health, and some of the Reproductive Health divisions. — The Office of Health Equity was eliminated. The parts of its work that are written into law will go to the Office of Minority Health and the Office of Women's Health. — Discretionary programs were cut from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, leaving behind only the mandatory World Trade Center health program and the Radiation Dose Reconstruction Program. The Trump administration plans to fold NIOSH into a new HHS agency called the Administration for a Healthy America. — The cuts dissolve the Birth Defects Center, but retain some of its work, including the Surveillance for Emerging Threats to Mothers and Babies Network. Some birth defects surveillance will continue, as well as autism surveillance. — The National Center for HIV, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and Tuberculosis Prevention lost about a fourth of its staff. The biggest cuts came from the Division of HIV Prevention. The Global Health Center Division of Global HIV & TB was also reduced by roughly a fourth. — CDC's Injury Center lost roughly a third of its staff. It will retain the Overdose Prevention Division and suicide prevention branch. Some surveillance activities will continue, like the National Violent Death Reporting System and 'adverse childhood experience' monitoring. — The National Center for Environmental Health lost its Division of Environmental Health Science and Practice. The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry will be folded into the Administration for a Healthy America. — The National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases lost its partnership and health equity branch. — The media support, broadcast services, visual design, and content and engagement branches were cut from the Office of Communications. — The Office of Acquisition Services in the Office of Financial Resources and the Office of Human Resources saw big cuts, while the Office of Equal Employment Opportunity was eliminated. — The CDC's office tasked with responding to Freedom of Information Act requests was cut. The administration plans to create one FOIA office for all of HHS. — The Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response lost 81 staff, according to an HHS official granted anonymity to discuss the cuts. Around a dozen of those let go were Strategic National Stockpile employees who worked in state, local, tribal and territorial programs, while others worked on grant management. Around 30 of the layoffs were from the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, the person said. The Trump administration has not publicly released a detailed overview of cuts at HHS, of which CDC is part, leading to confusion about the reorganization. 'The important next step for HHS is to answer questions from Congress, release a chart [of the cuts], share information with partners, and make sure that state and local health departments who carry this work out in communities across the country know who to call,' said Chrissie Juliano, executive director of the Big Cities Health Coalition, a forum of leaders from the nation's largest urban public health departments.
Politico
03-04-2025
- Health
- Politico
Which jobs were cut at CDC? Here's a list.
The layoffs at CDC this week hit global and environmental health as well as HIV prevention programs especially hard, according to an overview document obtained by POLITICO. The document, shared during an agency meeting Tuesday, paints a picture of a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that will be more narrowly focused on infectious disease, with a significantly less holistic view of public health. The job cuts include the elimination of about a fourth of the staff at the National Center for HIV, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and Tuberculosis Prevention and about a third of the workers at the CDC's Injury Center. 'When you see the elimination of the Office of Smoking and Health, when smoking is the leading preventable cause of chronic disease, you have to ask the question, 'What are they thinking?' asked Dr. Richard Besser, CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and a former acting director of the agency. The cuts are part of a large-scale restructuring at the Department of Health and Human Services — with the goal of eliminating 10,000 employees, 2,400 from CDC. A spokesperson for HHS did not respond to a request asking whether changes to the staff reductions had been made since they were shared with staff Tuesday. ABC News reported that HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. plans to reinstate some workers who were mistakenly fired. Here are the cuts: — National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion was reduced by about a third, losing the Office on Smoking and Health, Oral Health, Population Health, and some of the Reproductive Health divisions. — The Office of Health Equity was eliminated. The parts of its work that are written into law will go to the Office of Minority Health and the Office of Women's Health. — Discretionary programs were cut from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, leaving behind only the mandatory World Trade Center health program and the Radiation Dose Reconstruction Program. The Trump administration plans to fold NIOSH into a new HHS agency called the Administration for a Healthy America. — The cuts dissolve the Birth Defects Center, but retain some of its work, including the Surveillance for Emerging Threats to Mothers and Babies Network. Some birth defects surveillance will continue, as well as autism surveillance. — The National Center for HIV, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and Tuberculosis Prevention lost about a fourth of its staff. The biggest cuts came from the Division of HIV Prevention. The Global Health Center Division of Global HIV & TB was also reduced by roughly a fourth. — CDC's Injury Center lost roughly a third of its staff. It will retain the Overdose Prevention Division and suicide prevention branch. Some surveillance activities will continue, like the National Violent Death Reporting System and 'adverse childhood experience' monitoring. — The National Center for Environmental Health lost its Division of Environmental Health Science and Practice. The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry will be folded into the Administration for a Healthy America. — The National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases lost its partnership and health equity branch. — The media support, broadcast services, visual design, and content and engagement branches were cut from the Office of Communications. — The Office of Acquisition Services in the Office of Financial Resources and the Office of Human Resources saw big cuts, while the Office of Equal Employment Opportunity was eliminated. — The CDC's office tasked with responding to Freedom of Information Act requests was cut. The administration plans to create one FOIA office for all of HHS. — The Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response lost 81 staff, according to an HHS official granted anonymity to discuss the cuts. Around a dozen of those let go were Strategic National Stockpile employees who worked in state, local, tribal and territorial programs, while others worked on grant management. Around 30 of the layoffs were from the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, the person said. The Trump administration has not publicly released a detailed overview of cuts at HHS, of which CDC is part, leading to confusion about the reorganization. 'The important next step for HHS is to answer questions from Congress, release a chart [of the cuts], share information with partners, and make sure that state and local health departments who carry this work out in communities across the country know who to call,' said Chrissie Juliano, executive director of the Big Cities Health Coalition, a forum of leaders from the nation's largest urban public health departments.
USA Today
24-02-2025
- USA Today
'Heartbreaking': 4-year-old Florida boy dies after shooting himself with gun found in car
'Heartbreaking': 4-year-old Florida boy dies after shooting himself with gun found in car The child found a Smith & Wesson M&P .40-caliber handgun under the driver's seat of his family's vehicle. His mother found him after hearing a "pop" sound while she was on her computer. A 4-year-old Florida boy has died after accidentally shooting himself in the head with his family's gun, police said. Chosen Morris and his family were preparing for a night out on Friday, which included pizza, and then returning home to play board games, Davenport police said in a news release on Monday. Everything seemed fine until Chosen's mother heard a "pop" sound while she was on her computer in the master bedroom, she told police. Under the assumption that the children had broken something, the mother confronted her 7- and 11-year-olds in the living room while they were playing video games while wearing headphones, police said. Once the mother realized Chosen was missing, she began looking for her youngest child and noticed the door leading to the garage was open, according to the department. The mother then entered the garage and found Chosen in the driver's seat of the family vehicle with a gunshot wound to his head, police said. Chosen's parents rushed him to a hospital 2 miles away. Chosen was pronounced dead about almost 24 hours later on Saturday, police said. 'This is a tragic accident' During the shooting, Chosen's father was in the bathroom preparing for the planned family outing that night, according to police. Police believe Chosen, who was excited about the nighttime outing, got into the car to wait for the rest of his family members when he found the handgun under the driver's seat. Detectives recovered a Smith & Wesson M&P .40-caliber handgun from the vehicle, the department said. "This is a tragic accident. As a father and grandfather, I can't imagine what (they) are going through right now. Our prayers are certainly with the ... family as they endure this heartbreaking tragedy," Davenport Chief of Police Steve Parker said in a statement. No criminal charges have been filed in connection to Chosen's death, Parker told USA TODAY on Monday. "As part of our protocol, we will consult with the State Attorney's Office, but my office has no intentions of filing charges based on the information we have," the chief of police said. Safety tips for gun owners to protect children At least 1,262 children died from unintentional gun injuries in the U.S. and Puerto Rico between 2003 and 2021, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The majority (85%) were killed inside a house or apartment and about 38% were self-inflicted, the agency said. Guns involved in the unintentional deaths were most frequently being stored near nightstands, under mattresses or pillows, inside closets and inside vehicles, according to the CDC, which cited data analysis by the National Violent Death Reporting System. To protect children, the California Department of Justice recommends that gun owners: Always store their firearm unloaded. Use a firearms safety device and store the firearm in a locked container. Store the gun's ammunition separately in a locked container. Do not store the firearm where it is visible. Do not store the firearm on a bedside table, under a mattress or pillow, or on a closet shelf. Do not store the firearm among other valuables (such as jewelry or cameras) unless it is locked in a secure container. Consider storing firearms not possessed for self-defense safely and securely away from the home. also recommends parents talk to their children about guns, including reminding them that if they ever come across a firearm to stay away from it and tell a responsible adult immediately.
Yahoo
05-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
NIH Orders Researchers to Halt HIV Prevention Program for Trans Youth of Color
Grandbrothers Them's Officials at the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) have ordered researchers to freeze an adolescent HIV research and prevention program, one of the latest targets in the Trump administration's war against so-called 'gender ideology.' As the Washington Post reported on Tuesday, a NIH representative instructed some researchers working with the Adolescent Medicine Trials Network for HIV Interventions (ATN) to immediately halt work during a Zoom call on January 31. Specifically targeted by the stop-work order is the ATN's Legal, Economic, and Affirming Peer Support (LEAP) program, a study aimed at improving outcomes for trans and gender-nonconforming youth of color across seven cities and overseen by co-chairs Kristi Gamarel (PhD, EdM) and Sari Reisner (ScD, MA), both health equity researchers at the University of Michigan. The Post reported that NIH, which funds ATN, has suspended LEAP research following Trump's January 20 executive order banning federal agencies from recognizing trans identities. Multiple trans staff members of color may be fired as a result of the NIH freeze, Gamarel told the Post, but added that the NIH had not yet formalized the stop-work order via any channel besides the Zoom call. In response to an emailed request for comment by Them on Wednesday, Gamarel said that staff 'have not heard anything from the NIH and are still waiting for their guidance.' At the time of writing, the entire ATN website — not just content related to LEAP — was offline, and its homepage replaced with a statement asserting that the site 'is being modified to comply with President Trump's Executive Orders.' Them has reached out to NIH officials for comment. ATN, a network of numerous HIV research programs focused on improving medical care and outcomes for young people, has enrolled more than 30,000 young people in HIV care and prevention studies since it was founded in 2001. The network has previously worked with groups like The CHANGE Agenda and the International AIDS Society to distribute information and increase access to healthcare, especially among LGBTQ+ youth. Its past initiatives have included the community-based 'Connect2Protect' prevention program to reduce the likelihood of HIV exposure among boys and young men. CDC Orders Retraction of Research So Papers Can Be Reviewed for 'Transgender' and Other 'Forbidden Terms' The sweeping order came from the CDC's chief science officer last week. An anonymous state health department worker also told the Post on Tuesday that public health workers using the National Violent Death Reporting System — a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) program that collects data about violent deaths in the U.S., including cases of suicide, for research purposes — are now unable to identify victims as transgender. 'We already have issues getting accurate data about trans individuals, and to me, this is just a complete erasure of an already vulnerable population,' the anonymous worker told the Post. These crackdowns on trans-related public health research are part of Trump's much larger vendetta against trans identities, which he has labeled 'gender ideology,' at the federal level. On January 31 — the same day the NIH Zoom call allegedly took place — CDC officials ordered the agency's scientists to withdraw all papers currently being considered for publication, in order to determine whether any contained 'forbidden terms' such as 'gender,' 'transgender,' 'LGBT,' or 'nonbinary.' CDC scientists whose names appear as co-authors on papers originating outside the agency were also directed to remove their names entirely from those papers. In an editorial for Science magazine this week, writer and medicinal chemist Derek Lowe called the Trump administration's actions 'flagrantly lawless' and 'a vindictive ideological assault on agencies that [...] have helped produce major scientific advances in more fields than I can name.' '[W]hat we're seeing at the NIH and [National Science Foundation] is Dealing With Them, in real time: whacking the organizations hard to terrify everyone involved and making it clear that they are not wanted and should leave,' Lowe added. Get the best of what's queer. Sign up for Them's weekly newsletter here. Originally Appeared on them.
